Patent GB-617565-A (GB)
Title: Pneumatic suspension devices and vehicle suspension
IPC: B60G11/27
Filed: 1946-10-07
Abstract: 617,565. Vehicle suspensions; springs. GOUIRAND, R. Oct. 7, 1946, Nos. 29880 and 29881. Convention dates, Oct. 6, 1945, and June 22, 1946. [Classes 108 (ii) and 108 (iii)] A vehicle suspension comprises a horizontally disposed pneumatic cushion 13, Figs. 2 and 3, which is placed between upper and lower bearers 14, 15, secured respectively to the vehicle body and axle, and which extends for at least the greater portion of the transverse distance between the wheels of the axle and fore and aft for the same distance, there being ties 29 which connect the upper and lower bearers fore and aft and laterally of the cushion to prevent excessive separation between the bearers and to confine the cushion. The lower bearer 14 may be pivotally attached to or, as shown, formed integrally with a carrier 4 which at one end supports the rear axle 3 and is at the other connected to the chassis 2 for universal movement by means of a joint, Fig. 6, comprising upper and lower convex, metal-faced rubber blocks 11 carried on a vertical pivot pin 9. The cushion may be connected directly to the axle 3 (Figs. 9 and 10, not shown). The upper and lower plates 14, 15, which have rounded edges 23, Fig. 7, form the horizontal walls of the cushion, whose side wall comprises a flexible rubber annulus 13. Studs 18 protruding from the upper face of the plate 14 pass through holes in the rubber annulus and also through a metal ring 19 which latter, when forced down by nuts 20, makes an air-tight metal-to-rubber joint. The upper edge of the annulus has moulded into it the heads of bolts 21 whose protruding stems are passed through holes in the upper plate 15 and held in place by nuts 22. Alternatively, a separate all-rubber cushion might be placed between the bearers 14, 15. The cushion may be divided into compartments by internal transverse walls. To prevent the bearer plates touching should the cushion deflate, rubber bumpers 25, 26 are secured to the plates inside the cushion. Excessive separation between the plates is prevented by flexible straps 29 which are secured by loops to pins 30, 31 on the plates. These straps could be placed inside the cushion. The cushion may communicate with a chamber formed in the lower bearer through a check valve, which serves to damp rebound. The cushion may be circular, elliptical, polygonal or, when used on a front axle, C-shaped, in plan view. The cushions are inflated or deflated through solenoid-operated valves controlled by manual switches. When the vehicle hand-brake is applied, the valves are controlled automatically by a switch associated with the vehicle body and operated by movement of the body away from its normal position with respect to the frame, the riding height of the body being thus maintained constant. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 comprises also an embodiment wherein inverted U-shackles 81, Fig. 12 (Cancelled), prevent excessive separation between axle 3 and body 1, rubber cushions 85 taking up shocks. The snubbing arrangement might comprise a cord 87, Fig. 13 (Cancelled), secured at its ends to brackets 86, 90 on the body and passing over pulleys 88, 89 eccentrically mounted on the axle 3; this structure is repeated, in reverse, on the other side of the body, which is stated to be kept always level thereby. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.